Pentagon officials unveiled details Thursday of the proposed 2010 defense budget, a $663.8 billion spending plan that appeared to contain no big surprises for North Texas defense contractors.

The first defense budget prepared by the Obama administration calls for spending $533.8 billion on regular expenses and procurement of weapons and equipment, plus $130 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale called the spending plan "a reform budget," echoing a phrase used earlier by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The pace of spending increases, roughly 4 percent a year after inflation in recent years, will drop. The base budget request is $20.5 billion more than the $513.3 billion appropriated for 2009, a 4 percent increase but only 2.1 percent after adjusting for inflation.

"The spigot is starting to close," Hale said in a Pentagon briefing broadcast online.

Gates' budget, as he warned a month ago, contains no money for additional F-22 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin or for Boeing C-17 cargo planes. About 1,800 workers at Lockheed's Fort Worth plant work on the F-22, and about 1,000 jobs at Vought Aircraft Industries in Dallas are tied to the C-17.

The budget fully funds Lockheed Martin's F-35 joint strike fighter, the area's biggest defense contract. Lockheed Martin said in a statement that it "looks forward to working with the nation's civilian and military leaders as the budget process unfolds."

Join The Conversation

McClatchy Washington Bureau is pleased to provide this opportunity to share
information, experiences and observations about what's in the news.
Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the
newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day,
and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal
comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time
to offer your thoughts.